MetaFilter posts tagged with schoolshttp://www.metafilter.com/tags/schools
Posts tagged with 'schools' at MetaFilter.Wed, 31 Dec 2014 09:14:52 -0800Wed, 31 Dec 2014 09:14:52 -0800en-ushttp://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss60Ferrets IN Groundhogs OUThttp://www.metafilter.com/145751/Ferrets%2DIN%2DGroundhogs%2DOUT
<a href="http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2014/12/43-ways-mayor-de-blasio-changed-new-york.html">43 ways NYC changed under Mayor de Blaiso</a> (nymag.com) tag:metafilter.com,2014:site.145751Wed, 31 Dec 2014 09:14:52 -0800The WhelkThe problem is you've never actually known what the question ishttp://www.metafilter.com/144917/The%2Dproblem%2Dis%2Dyouve%2Dnever%2Dactually%2Dknown%2Dwhat%2Dthe%2Dquestion%2Dis
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qG2MhjBOSLQ">The school in Auckland with a radical 'no rules' policy</a> (12:00; 2014) [<a href="http://www.reddit.com/r/Documentaries/">via</a>] has a little in common with <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=awOAmTaZ4XI">the school in Framingham with a radical 'no curriculum' policy</a> (9:13; 2009) [<a href="https://www.metafilter.com/135455/post-industrial-education-for-post-industrial-organizations">previously</a>], which has a little in common with <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPwaCAGqKEo">the self-directed IT school in Paris for ages 18 to 30</a> (2:13; 2014), which takes some inspiration from <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cjEdxO91RWQ">The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy</a> (excerpt, 12:24; 1981). tag:metafilter.com,2014:site.144917Sat, 29 Nov 2014 18:53:06 -0800Monsieur CautionEckerd College paper schools it's college president on sexual assaulthttp://www.metafilter.com/144870/Eckerd%2DCollege%2Dpaper%2Dschools%2Dits%2Dcollege%2Dpresident%2Don%2Dsexual%2Dassault
President of Eckerd college Donald Eastman III wrote a<a href="http://theonlinecurrent.com/an-open-letter-to-students-president-eastman-emails-eckerd-community-about-sexual-assault-and-harassmenton-on-campus/"> letter to the students about preventing sexual assault</a>. His recommendation? Less alcohol and less casual sex. The college's student paper, The Current,<a href="http://theonlinecurrent.com/an-open-letter-to-the-eckerd-community-the-currents-response-to-president-eastmans-an-open-letter-to-students/"> responds in a civil, well spoken and cogent rebuttal.</a> tag:metafilter.com,2014:site.144870Thu, 27 Nov 2014 05:11:05 -0800asavageThe Myth of China's Super Schoolshttp://www.metafilter.com/144146/The%2DMyth%2Dof%2DChinas%2DSuper%2DSchools
<a href="http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2014/nov/20/myth-chinese-super-schools/">The Myth of China's Super Schools</a> <em>China had all the elements necessary for an industrial revolution at least four hundred years before Great Britain, but keju diverted scholars, geniuses, and thinkers away from the study or exploration of modern science. The examination system, Zhao holds, was designed to reward obedience, conformity, compliance, respect for order, and homogeneous thinking; for this reason, it purposefully supported Confucian orthodoxy and imperial order. It was an efficient means of authoritarian social control. Everyone wanted to succeed on the highly competitive exams, but few did. Success on the keju enforced orthodoxy, not innovation or dissent. As Zhao writes, emperors came and went, but China had “no Renaissance, no Enlightenment, no Industrial Revolution.”</em> <em>Zhao, born and educated in China, now holds a presidential chair and a professorship at the University of Oregon. He tells us that China has the best education system because it can produce the highest test scores. But, he says, it has the worst education system in the world because those test scores are purchased by sacrificing creativity, divergent thinking, originality, and individualism. The imposition of standardized tests by central authorities, he argues, is a victory for authoritarianism. His book is a timely warning that we should not seek to emulate Shanghai, whose scores reflect a Confucian tradition of rote learning that is thousands of years old. Indeed, the highest-scoring nations on the PISA examinations of fifteen-year-olds are all Asian nations or cities: Shanghai, Hong Kong, Chinese Taipei, Singapore, Korea, Macao (China), and Japan.”</em> tag:metafilter.com,2014:site.144146Sun, 02 Nov 2014 22:00:55 -0800modernnomadpestilence is from the devil.http://www.metafilter.com/140160/pestilence%2Dis%2Dfrom%2Dthe%2Ddevil
A <a href="http://observationdeck.io9.com/thank-you-judge-william-f-kuntz-ii-1594648262">federal judge</a> in New York has ruled against a group of parents who had <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/health/2014/06/23/3452130/vaccine-new-york-city-lawsuit/">filed a lawsuit,</a> <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/23/nyregion/judge-upholds-policy-barring-unvaccinated-students-during-illnesses.html?smid=tw-nytimeshealth&seid=auto&_r=1">asserting</a> that the New York City <a href="http://schools.nyc.gov/offices/health/ImmunizationInfo/default.htm">policy</a> that allows schools to ban unvaccinated kids from attending classes when another child has come down with a vaccine preventable illness infringed on their practice of religion. The decision cites <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1449224/">Jacobson v. Massachusetts, 197 U.S. 11 (1905)</a>, where the SCOTUS upheld Cambridge, Mass, Board of Health’s authority to require vaccination against smallpox during a smallpox epidemic. tag:metafilter.com,2014:site.140160Mon, 23 Jun 2014 14:21:45 -0800roomthreeseventeenHow Children What?http://www.metafilter.com/139406/How%2DChildren%2DWhat
"<a href="http://www.johnholtgws.com/">John Holt</a> and <a href="http://www.paultough.com/the-books/how-children-succeed/">Paul Tough</a> are a half-century apart. Both were interested in children and how they learned. One wrote a book called <em>How Children Learn</em>, the other a book called <em>How Children Succeed</em>. <a href="http://thesprouts.org/blog/how-children-what">Their juxtaposition has a lot to tell us about how we think about and treat our young people.</a>" tag:metafilter.com,2014:site.139406Tue, 27 May 2014 10:52:41 -0800overeducated_alligatorThe SHSAT is a diagnostic, the canary in the coal mine.http://www.metafilter.com/137773/The%2DSHSAT%2Dis%2Da%2Ddiagnostic%2Dthe%2Dcanary%2Din%2Dthe%2Dcoal%2Dmine
Bill De Blasio blamed the lack of racial diversity in New York City's top high schools, such as Stuyvesant, on the standardized admissions test, and <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/bill-de-blasio-testy-nyc-elite-school-admissions-article-1.1481345">campaigned on ending it</a>. The New York Times has written<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/12/nyregion/status-quo-at-elite-new-york-schools-few-blacks-and-hispanics.html"> pieces reminding of it</a>. But the parent of a <a href="http://www.kveller.com/blog/parenting/will-my-son-be-the-only-black-jew-in-high-school/">biracial son attending Stuyvesant</a> has a <a href="http://www.kveller.com/blog/parenting/why-did-nycs-top-public-high-school-admit-only-seven-black-students-this-year/">different argument</a>: that the problem is not with the test, but with the <a href="http://www.villagevoice.com/2013-04-03/news/system-failure-the-collapse-of-public-education/">substandard education system</a> that dominates much of New York City.<blockquote>"By having these pathetic SHSAT results publicized year after year, it shines a light on just what an awful job inner city schools are doing educating those students who can’t afford to buy their way out of a broken system, either through private schools or private tutoring centers. If the specialized high schools’ racial balances were “fixed,” we might be tempted to consider the problems they expose 'fixed,' too."</blockquote> tag:metafilter.com,2014:site.137773Wed, 26 Mar 2014 08:36:55 -0800corbPotterverse Worldbuildinghttp://www.metafilter.com/136187/Potterverse%2DWorldbuilding
The extended setting of the <i>Harry Potter</i> series is fertile soil for fans interested in worldbuilding, especially since the release of <a href="http://pottermore.com">Pottermore</a> <small>(<a href="http://www.metafilter.com/104861/Pottermore">previously</a>)</small>, a companion site to the books that includes back-story and adjunt information direct from J.K. Rowling. Some of these worldbuilding projects include explorations on <a href="http://amortentiafashion.tumblr.com/">wizarding</a> <a href="http://wizardfashion.tumblr.com/">fashion</a>, <a href="http://dept-magical-education.tumblr.com/">magical education</a> (including <a href="http://underwater-witchery.tumblr.com/">other</a> <a href="https://www.fanfiction.net/u/1374917/Inverarity">magical</a> <a href="http://fanfiction.mugglenet.com/viewstory.php?sid=79611">schools</a>), <a href="http://themonsterblogofmonsters.tumblr.com/">fantastic beasts (and perhaps where to find them)</a>, <a href="http://thecompleteillustrated.tumblr.com/post/64882410417/imagine-a-muslim-witch">Muslims at Hogwarts</a>, and <a href="http://punkdraco.tumblr.com/tagged/hp-next-gen">the next generation of Hogwarts students</a>. Also <a href="http://www.metafilter.com/130679/Your-new-Harry-Potter-crack">previously</a>: <a href="http://livesandliesofwizards.tumblr.com/">Lives and Lies of Wizards</a>. tag:metafilter.com,2014:site.136187Thu, 30 Jan 2014 14:32:54 -0800divabatpost-industrial education for post-industrial organizationshttp://www.metafilter.com/135455/post%2Dindustrial%2Deducation%2Dfor%2Dpost%2Dindustrial%2Dorganizations
<a href="http://www.newrepublic.com/article/116015/sudbury-valley-school-alternative-education-right-my-kids">Sudbury Valley School</a> - "It upends your views about what school is for, why it has to cost as much as it does, and whether our current model makes any sense at all. But what's most amazing about the school, a claim the founders make which was backed up by my brief observations, my conversations with students, and the written recollections of alumni, is that the school has taken the angst out of education. <a href="http://dish.andrewsullivan.com/2013/12/06/a-school-without-walls/">Students like going there</a>, and they like their teachers. Because they are never made to take a class they don't like, they don't rue learning. They don't hate homework because they don't have homework. School causes no fights with their parents." (<a href="http://www.metafilter.com/31579/Go-To-School-Do-Nothing">previously</a>-<a href="http://www.metafilter.com/7333/Democratic-Schools">er</a>) <blockquote>In short, Sudbury Valley students relate to their work the same way that adults who love their jobs—many artists, writers, chefs; the very fortunate doctors and lawyers and teachers—relate to work: They chose it, so they like it. Perhaps that's because students at Sudbury are, in fact, treated as full adults. They have equal votes in making budget decisions, administering the school, making and <a href="http://dish.andrewsullivan.com/2014/01/08/the-unschool/">enforcing discipline</a>. There are currently about <a href="http://www.sudval.org/07_othe_01.html">35 Sudbury-model schools</a>, in 15 states and six foreign countries, and one thing they have in common is their stance against age discrimination. They say that all ages are equal, and they mean it.</blockquote>
also btw...
-<a href="http://qz.com/161210/zappos-is-going-holacratic-no-job-titles-no-managers-no-hierarchy/">Zappos is going holacratic: no job titles, no managers, no hierarchy</a>
-<a href="http://www.wired.com/business/2014/01/holacracy-at-zappos/">The Next Big Thing You Missed: Companies That Work Better Without Bosses</a>
-<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/zappos-holacracy-unlikely-to-work-2014-1">Here's Why Eliminating Titles And Managers At Zappos Probably Won't Work</a>
-<a href="http://jobs.aol.com/articles/2014/01/07/no-more-bosses-for-zappos-a-cautionary-tale/">No More Bosses For Zappos (A Cautionary Tale)</a> tag:metafilter.com,2014:site.135455Wed, 08 Jan 2014 16:44:33 -0800kliuless"Somebody's gotta stand up to these experts!"http://www.metafilter.com/133840/Somebodys%2Dgotta%2Dstand%2Dup%2Dto%2Dthese%2Dexperts
<a href="http://www.dallasobserver.com/2013-11-14/news/creationists-last-stand-at-the-state-board-of-education/full/">Creationists' Last Stand at the Texas State Board of Education</a> tag:metafilter.com,2013:site.133840Thu, 14 Nov 2013 17:26:07 -0800brundleflySchool Desegregationhttp://www.metafilter.com/132316/School%2DDesegregation
Are our schools becoming more segregated? In 1954 "Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka" <a href="http://www.civilrights.org/resources/civilrights101/desegregation.html">desegregated</a> schools in the United States... but, it appears that the country is losing ground in this effort.
According to an <a href="http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2013/9/25/56-years-after-littlerockusschoolssegregatedbyraceandclass.html">article</a> in Aljazeera America: "African-American and Latino students are less likely to attend racially and ethnically diverse schools today than at any other time in the last four decades. This, almost 60 years after the landmark Supreme Court ruling that desegregated schools, represents a major setback for one of the core goals of the civil rights movement." tag:metafilter.com,2013:site.132316Wed, 25 Sep 2013 18:38:32 -0800HuronBobThe Common Corehttp://www.metafilter.com/132191/The%2DCommon%2DCore
The <a href="http://www.corestandards.org/">Common Core</a> (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_Core_State_Standards_Initiative">Wikipedia</a>) is a state-led effort that established a single set of <a href="http://nypost.com/2013/04/07/why-common-core-matters/">clear educational standards</a> for kindergarten through 12th grade in <a href="http://www.corestandards.org/resources/key-points-in-english-language-arts">English language arts</a> and <a href="http://www.corestandards.org/resources/key-points-in-mathematics">mathematics</a> that <a href="http://www.ascd.org/common-core-state-standards/common-core-state-standards-adoption-map.aspx">states voluntarily adopt</a> (that is, if they want to <a href="http://www.governing.com/blogs/view/States-Begin-Task-of-Implementing-Common-Core-Standards.html">keep their funding</a>). In the weeks and months leading up to implementation of the Common Core, some teachers are <a href="http://www.bradenton.com/2013/09/22/4728972/a-teachers-perspective-dont-fear.html">a little wary</a>. Teachers and community organizers are now left to <a href="https://stateimpact.npr.org/indiana/2013/01/31/how-teachers-are-explaining-common-core-standards-to-students-parents/">translate Common Core standards</a> for confused parents, with some <a href="http://hepg.org/hel/article/513">myths</a>, <a href="http://www.schoolimprovement.com/common-core-360/blog/common-core-standards-messaging-truth/">rumors</a>, and <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DW0VxxoCrNo">miscommunications</a> getting in the way. Now, after months of preparing for the shift, some states are <a href="http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=205548327">dropping out</a> <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/diane-ravitch/common-core-fallacy_b_3809159.html">of the Common Core</a>. But <a href="http://hechingerreport.org/content/why-states-are-backing-out-on-common-standards-and-tests_12895/">why?</a> tag:metafilter.com,2013:site.132191Sun, 22 Sep 2013 11:00:05 -0800SkylitDrawlOne of the saddest situations that I've seenhttp://www.metafilter.com/131894/One%2Dof%2Dthe%2Dsaddest%2Dsituations%2Dthat%2DIve%2Dseen
<a href="http://www.mysuncoast.com/news/state/girl-found-dead-at-abandoned-cement-plant/article_619393e1-0770-5a49-b3b6-f8d975b88657.html">After a fight with a former friend, reportedly over a "boyfriend situation", Rebecca Sedwick was suspended.</a> When Rebecca reported she was being bullied, the school worked with Tricia, Rebecca's mother, to change Rebecca's schedule. Tricia had her daughter close her Facebook account, too. Still, the troubles continued; after her Mom spotted scratches on her arms, Rebecca admitted she was <a href="http://kidshealth.org/teen/your_mind/mental_health/cutting.html">cutting</a> and was <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florida_Mental_Health_Act">Baker-Acted</a> into a mental hospital at the beginning of the calendar year.
Now, though, Rebecca was starting over, beginning the school year at a brand new school. Tricia was relieved to know her twelve year-old daughter never had to see those girls again.
What Tricia didn't know was that Rebecca still heard from her bullies all the time. The girl checked Kik Messenger, ask.fm, and Instagram incessantly, reading what they'd said about her, to her, responding with defeated and depressed agreement when they told her nobody cared about her. When they told her, "You should be dead," She changed her username to <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2417074/Rebecca-Ann-Sedwick-Florida-girl-12-victim-relentless-cyber-bullying.html">The Dead Girl,</a> turned her screensaver into a picture of herself with her head resting across the railroad tracks near her home.
Last Monday, Rebecca skipped classes at her new school. The automated messaging system at Lawton Chiles Middle School malfunctioned in some way; Tricia never knew her daughter was absent. Though Rebecca contacted her friend Jameson with her intentions early that morning, perhaps reaching out for help, the boy chose not to tell anyone about the texts he received.
Sometime during that day, September 9th, <a href="http://www.baynews9.com/content/news/baynews9/news/article.html/content/news/articles/bn9/2013/9/12/sheriff_grady_judd_t.html">twelve-year-old Rebecca Sedwick </a>climbed the <a href="http://www.everyjoe.com/2013/09/11/crime/rebecca-ann-sedwick-photos-lakeland-florida-suicide-bullying/#5">silo at an abandoned concrete factory</a> near her home and committed suicide, jumping to her death.
<a href="http://www.abcactionnews.com/dpp/news/region_polk/lakeland/polk-county-sheriff-grady-judd-to-brief-media-on-death-of-12-year-old-rebecca-sedwick-of-lakeland">The Polk County Sheriff's press conference details the circumstances of Rebecca's suicide, and the possibility of charges against the bullies--as many as fifteen girls who terrorized her online for months, suggesting, "Why don't you go kill yourself?" </a> tag:metafilter.com,2013:site.131894Thu, 12 Sep 2013 17:21:25 -0800mishaA win for boobie bracelets in middle schoolhttp://www.metafilter.com/130744/A%2Dwin%2Dfor%2Dboobie%2Dbracelets%2Din%2Dmiddle%2Dschool
"<a href="http://articles.philly.com/2013-08-06/news/41135500_1_brianna-hawk-easton-area-school-district-kayla-martinez">The question was not so much what the bracelets said</a> but whether school officials used reasonable judgment when they concluded that such apparel was inappropriate and might lead to more egregiously sexual and disruptive displays, all in the name of advocating a cause."
Special bonus: The knockers displayed in a Google ad running below the innocent image of a boobie-bracelet-bedecked wrist. tag:metafilter.com,2013:site.130744Wed, 07 Aug 2013 15:40:21 -0800Bella DonnaYou may want to NOT "take the last train to Clarksville"!http://www.metafilter.com/130489/You%2Dmay%2Dwant%2Dto%2DNOT%2Dtake%2Dthe%2Dlast%2Dtrain%2Dto%2DClarksville
<a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/arkansas-school-arming-teachers-article-1.1412540">The local school district in Clarksville, Arkansas</a> will be arming 20 school employees. In preparation for the opening of school in the fall, each teacher involved received 53 hours of training from <a href="http://www.nighthawkcustomtraining.com/">Nighthawk Custom Training</a>. In addition to the $50,000 spent for training and ammunition (the district did not divulge how much of the $50,000 was for training, and how much was spent on ammunition), each teacher involved also received a stipend of over $1,000 to purchase a handgun and a holster.
This action, in response to the shootings at <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandy_Hook_Elementary_School_shooting">Sandy Hook</a> means that Clarksville will join, among others, the <a href="http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/3041407/posts">Newcomerstown</a> school district in Ohio and the <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/17/canadian-school-teacher-guns_n_3613096.html">Canadian Independent School District</a> (ironically, in Texas) as having armed teachers.
On a side note, insurance companies in Kansas, are refusing to provide coverage for schools that take advantage of the new law in that state. tag:metafilter.com,2013:site.130489Tue, 30 Jul 2013 19:57:45 -0800HuronBob"...we should take a close look at repealing compulsory education."http://www.metafilter.com/130080/we%2Dshould%2Dtake%2Da%2Dclose%2Dlook%2Dat%2Drepealing%2Dcompulsory%2Deducation
Utah State Sen. <a href="http://www.aaronosmond.com/">Aaron Osmond</a> (R-South Jordan) has introduced <a href="http://www.senatesite.com/home/compulsory-education/">a proposal to abolish compulsory education</a> for children in his home state. Titled <em>Accountability for Parents + Respect for Teachers</em>, Osmond's proposal advocates a "freedom-based" approach, decrying parents' perceived withdrawal from the educational process: "As a result, our teachers and schools have been forced to become surrogate parents, expected to do everything from behavioral counseling, to providing adequate nutrition, to teaching sex education, as well as ensuring full college and career readiness." Although <a href="http://le.utah.gov/code/TITLE53A/htm/53A11_010105.htm">Utah Code &#0167; 53A-11-101.5</a> already specifies that education is not compulsory until a child has reached the age of 6 [<a href="http://www.childrensdefense.org/child-research-data-publications/data/state-data-repository/full-day-k/2013-utah-full-day-k.pdf">PDF</a>], Osmond seeks to do away with compulsory education altogether.
<a href="http://www.senatesite.com/home/compulsory-education/">The proposal</a> outlines four recommendations:
1. Restoring "the expectation that parents are primarily responsible for the educational success of their own children,"
2. "Shift[ing] the public mindset to recognize that education is a not an obligation, but an opportunity to be treasured and respected,"
3. Rolling back the requirement that children and teachers must be present in the classroom for at least 990 hours per year, and
4. Reiterating the belief that "if a parent decides to keep their child home or to go on a family vacation, it's the responsibility of that parent to ensure their child completes the assignments and stays current with their class."
Osmond also references <a href="http://www.agencybasededucation.org/">Agency Based Education</a> proponent Oak Norton and his <a href="http://www.agencybasededucation.org/">2012 ABE Conference</a> talk, "Ending Compulsory Education: A Freedom-Based Argument" [<a href="http://www.senatesite.com/home/blog2/images/2013/07/Ending-Compulsory-Education-A-Freedom-Based-Argument-by-Oak-Norton1-copy.pdf">PDF</a>, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_H7ds2Eb70">YouTube</a>]. Norton advances the idea that "we cannot provide government a legal power that trumps that parental right by way of compulsory education and truancy laws."
State School Board member Leslie Castle responded to Osmond's overture in <a href="http://www.standard.net/stories/2013/07/16/davis-district-ending-compulsory-education-won-t-change-anything">an interview with Ogden's Standard-Examiner</a>, observing that today's Utahns "live in a society where some children require help beyond the ability of their parents. Those students don't deserve to be punished, they don't deserve to be disqualified." Citing Utah's 92% opt-in rate for kindergarten as a prime example of citizens exercising a choice free of legal obligation, Osmond replied, "We have to shift the culture more than just the process." <a href="http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865583185/Utah-lawmaker-calls-for-end-of-compulsory-education.html">Speaking to Salt Lake City's Deseret News</a>, Osmond admitted that the details of his proposal may need fine-tuning, but concluded, "What I'm hoping to accomplish with this bill is to restore the trust and respect and professionalism of teachers as a facility of learning and not as a social worker."
A University of Phoenix graduate, real estate entrepreneur, and former Microsoft executive, <a href="http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/politics/51765746-90/osmond-education-buttars-district.html.csp">Osmond won his seat in 2011</a> in an election brought about by <a href="http://www.deseretnews.com/article/705368498/Controversial-Sen-Chris-Buttars-announces-retirement-at-end-of-legislative-session.html?pg=all">the resignation of State Sen. Chris Buttars</a>. Since his election, Osmond has served as a member of the <a href="http://www.utahsenate.org/aspx/committees.aspx?type=Standing">Utah Senate Education Standing Committee</a>, the <a href="http://le.utah.gov/lfa/reports/cobi2012/sctte_27.htm">Higher Education Appropriations Subcommittee</a>, and the <a href="http://le.utah.gov/interim/2012/lfa/cobi2012/sctte_29.htm">Public Education Appropriations Subcommittee</a>, all of which work in concert to make budget recommendations to the state Legislature and govern appropriations and funding for all of Utah's charter schools and school districts.
In a <a href="http://www.governing.com/gov-data/education-data/state-education-spending-per-pupil-data.html">comparison</a> of public education spending levels across the United States, Utah currently ranks 50th in the nation, with a <a href="http://www.census.gov/newsroom/releases/archives/governments/cb13-92.html">FY 2011</a> expenditure of $6,212 per student. tag:metafilter.com,2013:site.130080Wed, 17 Jul 2013 11:05:52 -0800divined by radio"You don’t like it? Find another place to live."http://www.metafilter.com/127340/You%2Ddont%2Dlike%2Dit%2DFind%2Danother%2Dplace%2Dto%2Dlive
<a href="http://nymag.com/news/features/east-ramapo-hasidim-2013-4/#print">"Them and Them."</a> <i>"Rockland County, New York's East Ramapo school district is a taxpayer-funded system fighting financial insolvency. It is also bitterly divided between the mostly black and Hispanic children and families who use the schools and the Hasidic and ultra-Orthodox Jewish majority who run the Board of Education and send their children to private, religious schools."</i></a> Also see: <a href="http://www.lohud.com/section/news03&template=theme&theme=eastramapo&keywords=eastramapo&title=East%20Ramapo:%20A%20district%20divided">A District Divided</a>. <a href="http://nymag.com/news/features/east-ramapo-hasidim-2013-4/#">Multi-page link</a> to the NY Mag article.
Journal-News: <a href="http://www.lohud.com/article/20130416/NEWS03/304160079/East-Ramapo-school-district-proposes-dozens-staff-layoffs-sports-cuts-2013-14-budget?nclick_check=1">East Ramapo school district proposes dozens of staff layoffs, sports cuts in 2013-14 budget</a>
NYT (from last July): <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/28/nyregion/parents-in-east-ramapo-school-district-ask-state-to-oust-orthodox-jews-on-board.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0">Rockland County Parents Ask State to Oust 5 Orthodox Jews on School Board</a>
The "<a href="https://www.facebook.com/EastRamapoUnderground">East Ramapo Underground</a>" radio show mentioned in the article is also <a href="http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL6056665F78ABE425">on YouTube</a>.
<a href="http://www.preserveramapo.org/">Preserve Ramapo</a> site has additional information on the area and links to region-related news articles. tag:metafilter.com,2013:site.127340Wed, 24 Apr 2013 08:53:46 -0800zarqMichelle Rhee's "Reign of Error"http://www.metafilter.com/127044/Michelle%2DRhees%2DReign%2Dof%2DError
DCPS Chancellor Michelle Rhee oversaw radical reforms to Washington, DC's failing public schools. Amongst the results were <a href="http://takingnote.learningmatters.tv/?p=6232">widespread
irregularities on standardized tests that suggest they were tampered with by adults</a>. During her unpopular 2007-2010 tenure as <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michelle_Rhee#Chancellor_of_D.C._public_schools">chancellor of D.C. Public Schools</a>, Michelle Rhee <a href="http://www.metafilter.com/77012/The-Lady-Chancellors-Nightmare">(previously)</a> enacted a series of controversial and <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/wayoflife/09/09/dc.schools/index.html?_s=PM:LIVING">radical reforms</a> that tied teacher pay and job security to students' standardized test scores. Her policies both awarded high-achieving schools and punished poor ones; a single day in 2010 saw the <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/07/23/AR2010072303093.html">dismissal of 165 DCPS teachers</a> on the basis of test scores. Rhee resigned later that year after Adrian Fenty -- the mayor who had appointed her in 2007 despite her lack of experience -- lost reelection in what was widely construed as a referendum on DC education reform.
Test-score based policies have been linked to cheating by teachers and administrators in other communities (just two weeks ago, <a href="http://www.theatlanticwire.com/national/2013/03/dozens-atlanta-teachers-indicted-cheating-scandal/ 63705/">a grand jury indicted 35 school administrators and teachers in Atlanta for alleged standardized test cheating</a>), and DC is no exception. Not long after Rhee's reforms were implemented, DC standardized test scores improved... and with the improvement came a rash of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michelle_Rhee#Test_erasures">suspicious "wrong to right" (WTR) erasures</a> on the standardized tests. In 2011, scandal broke when <a href="http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/education/2011-03-28-1Aschooltesting28_CV_N.htm">USA Today investigated a pattern of abnormally high DCPS WTR erasures between 2008--2010</a>. The cheating continues: on Friday, the <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/memo-could-revive-allegations-of-cheating-in-dc-public-schools/2013/04/12/9ddb2bb6-a35e-11e2-9c03-6952ff305f35_story.html">Washington Post reported 11 DCPS schools showing evidence of test-tampering in 2012</a>.
Although Rhee denied awareness of the cheating at the time, a memo acquired and reported last week by veteran PBS/NPR education reporter John Merrow reveals that <a href="http://takingnote.learningmatters.tv/?p=6232">Rhee was aware of the issue as early as 2009</a>. Merrow's documentary <a href="http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/education-of-michelle-rhee/">The Education of Michelle Rhee</a> was broadcast on Frontline in January and is <a href="http://video.pbs.org/video/2323979463/">watchable on-line</a>. tag:metafilter.com,2013:site.127044Sun, 14 Apr 2013 13:49:24 -0800Westringia F.Snitches get lines and have to stay behind after schoolhttp://www.metafilter.com/126600/Snitches%2Dget%2Dlines%2Dand%2Dhave%2Dto%2Dstay%2Dbehind%2Dafter%2Dschool
<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/30/us/former-school-chief-in-atlanta-indicted-in-cheating-scandal.html?pagewanted=all&amp;_r=1&amp;">Until Jackie Parks, Georgia state investigator Richard Hyde had never tried to flip an elementary school teacher.</a> Ms. Parks admitted to Mr. Hyde that she was one of seven teachers — nicknamed “the chosen” — who sat in a locked windowless room every afternoon during the week of state testing, raising students’ scores by erasing wrong answers and making them right. She then agreed to wear a hidden electronic wire to school, and for weeks she secretly recorded the conversations of her fellow teachers for Mr. Hyde. tag:metafilter.com,2013:site.126600Mon, 01 Apr 2013 13:35:04 -0800SebmojoThis Chicago Lifehttp://www.metafilter.com/125291/This%2DChicago%2DLife
Last school year in Chicago, 29 current and recent students of Harper High School in the Englewood neighborhood were shot. Of those, 8 students died. For one semester (five months) reporters from the NPR show <em>This American Life</em> interviewed students and staff at Harper. The reporters wanted to know: How do students live with the violence surrounding them? How does the school staff deal with the effects of violence on students? The resulting two episodes of the show answer these questions (and more) in heartbreaking and surprising ways.
<a href="http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/487/harper-high-school-part-one">Part one here.</a>
<a href="http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/488/harper-high-school-part-two">Part two here.</a> tag:metafilter.com,2013:site.125291Fri, 22 Feb 2013 21:48:39 -0800Misty_KnightmareTeachers boycott standardized testinghttp://www.metafilter.com/123865/Teachers%2Dboycott%2Dstandardized%2Dtesting
<a href="http://blogs.seattletimes.com/today/2013/01/garfield-teachers-refuse-to-give-district-required-test/">Teachers at two Seattle high schools have decided to boycott a district-required standardized test.</a> <a href="http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2013/01/12-2">The boycott began at Garfield High School,</a> and has since <a href="http://seattleducation2010.wordpress.com/2013/01/11/seattle-ballard-high-school-teachers-have-followed-suit-no-map-test/">spread to Ballard High School</a>. All teachers at both schools support the boycott. (Here are the <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2013/01/14/teacher-why-i-wont-give-students-high-stakes-standardized-test/">thoughts of one teacher</a>; here's a <a href="http://rethinkingschoolsblog.wordpress.com/2013/01/12/proud-to-be-a-garfield-bulldog/">former student</a> and current education reform advocate.)
The <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/01/12/us-usa-school-test-idUSBRE90B02V20130112">required Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) exams</a>, which test reading and math, are given two to three times a year. But one teacher spokesman said the test “produces specious results, and wreaks havoc on limited school resources” during the weeks the test is administered. tag:metafilter.com,2013:site.123865Tue, 15 Jan 2013 08:29:24 -0800showbiz_lizBoaler and the math warshttp://www.metafilter.com/121036/Boaler%2Dand%2Dthe%2Dmath%2Dwars
<a href="http://www.stanford.edu/~joboaler/">"Milgram and Bishop are opposed to reforms of mathematics teaching and support the continuation of a model in which students learn mathematics without engaging in realistic problems or discussing mathematical methods</a>. They are, of course, entitled to this opinion, and there has been an ongoing, spirited academic debate about mathematics learning for a number of years. But Milgram and Bishop have gone beyond the bounds of reasoned discourse in a campaign to systematically suppress empirical evidence that contradicts their stance. Academic disagreement is an inevitable consequence of academic freedom, and I welcome it. However, responsible disagreement and academic bullying are not the same thing. Milgram and Bishop have engaged in a range of tactics to discredit me and damage my work which I have now decided to make public."</a> <a href="http://ed.stanford.edu/faculty/joboaler">Jo Boaler</a>, professor of mathematics education at Stanford, accuses two mathematicians, one her colleague of Stanford, of unethical attempts to discredit <a href="http://www.msri.org/attachments/workshops/388/Open_our_ideas_Boaler.pdf">her research</a>, which supports "active engagement" with mathematics (aka "reform math") over the more traditional "practicing procedures" approach. <a href="ftp://math.stanford.edu/pub/papers/milgram/combined-evaluations-version3.pdf">The Milgram/Bishop paper</a>. (.pdf)
<a href="http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2012/10/15/stanford-professor-goes-public-attacks-over-her-math-education-research">Coverage from Inside Higher Ed</a>. tag:metafilter.com,2012:site.121036Thu, 18 Oct 2012 21:32:00 -0800escabecheWhat do today's kids make of the Commodore 64?http://www.metafilter.com/118471/What%2Ddo%2Dtodays%2Dkids%2Dmake%2Dof%2Dthe%2DCommodore%2D64
<a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-19055707">What do today's kids make of the Commodore 64?</a> <em>BBC News invited Commodore enthusiast Mat Allen to show schoolchildren his carefully preserved computer, at a primary school and secondary school in London.</em> tag:metafilter.com,2012:site.118471Wed, 01 Aug 2012 06:29:35 -0800modernnomadDigital Divide?http://www.metafilter.com/116543/Digital%2DDivide
The NYT published an article this week covering a new "<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/30/us/new-digital-divide-seen-in-wasting-time-online.html?pagewanted=all">digital divide</a>" where poor children are spending more time "wasting time" online. The article states that low income children are more likely to waste time online then their peers who have college educated parents. "The new divide is such a cause of concern for the Federal Communications Commission that it is considering a proposal to spend $200 million to create a digital literacy corps. This group of hundreds, even thousands, of trainers would fan out to schools and libraries to teach productive uses of computers for parents, students and job seekers." <a href="http://blog.schoollibraryjournal.com/neverendingsearch/2012/05/31/arent-we-already-the-digital-literacy-corps/">School Librarians</a> however would like to see money funneled to library in programs in schools where School Library Media Specialists positions have been cut in recent years. More <a href="http://www.slideshare.net/PewInternet/digital-divides-and-bridges-technology-use-among-youth">coverage</a> about teens and the digital divide from Pew Internet &amp; American Life Project tag:metafilter.com,2012:site.116543Fri, 01 Jun 2012 13:00:49 -0800momochanThink of the childrenhttp://www.metafilter.com/111462/Think%2Dof%2Dthe%2Dchildren
<a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jan/09/texas-police-schools?INTCMP=SRCH">Arresting children for trivial offences in schools.</a> The criminal justice system in the US is being deployed as a <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zl-efNBvjUU">first resort</a> in dealing with youthful excess: spraying perfume or failing to clean up crumbs are now offences worthy of a police issued ticket. Texas is one state <a href="http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/students-young-six-ticketed-police-texas-schools-20110110-083345-614.html">increasingly relying</a> on a police presence in schools to issue tickets to children as young as 6 years old for low level disruptive behaviour that has <a href="http://www.brasschecktv.com/videos/schools-are-prisons/school-police-increasingly-arresting-american-students.html">traditionally been handled internally</a> within the school. tag:metafilter.com,2012:site.111462Tue, 10 Jan 2012 07:50:39 -0800SueDenim